“And just what may this invention be?”
Ned Nevins hesitated a few seconds before replying.
“I hardly know just what to call it,” he said, “but I guess an electric hydroaeroplane about describes it.”
Jack’s face betrayed his interest.
“You mean a craft capable of air and water travel that is driven by electricity?” he asked.
“That’s just it. But there are many novel features about it, however. My uncle set most store by one particular novelty in its construction, and that was the fact that it was driven by electricity instead of gasolene. Gasolene is bulky, dangerous and heavy to carry, and sometimes hard to obtain, but by using an electric generator, worked while the machine is in motion, the Nevins hydroaeroplane, as my uncle called it, has plenty of cheap power always obtainable and is simpler than gasolene-driven motors in a number of ways.”
“But about your storage batteries—I suppose that’s the idea?”
Ned Nevins nodded.
“That’s just the point I was coming to,” he said; “one of the most notable features of the Nevins hydroaeroplane is the fact that its power is furnished by storage batteries many times lighter than any yet constructed, and capable of developing many times the power. But the plans will show you all that far better than I can explain.”